By Steve Bargeton, political editor

FIRST MINISTER Alex Salmond was yesterday interrogated for a second time by MSPs over his role in Donald Trump’s £1 billion golf resort plans, but was cleared by the US tycoon of any undue influence.

The Holyrood local government committee is investigating allegations that Mr Salmond used his influence to have the controversial development called in by the Scottish Government after Aberdeenshire Council rejected it.

Mr Salmond, who is also MSP for the area earmarked for the resort outside Aberdeen, has insisted he has always acted properly.

This was backed by Mr Trump who, in an interview with the BBC broadcast yesterday, insisted he had been given no assurances by ministers that his golf resort project would get the go ahead.

“I hardly know Alex Salmond, but what I do know is that he is an amazing man,” said Mr Trump.

“He is a person that believes strongly in Scotland, and wants economic development in Scotland, but Alex Salmond and I have virtually never even talked about this job.”

Asked if he had been given any assurances by Mr Salmond or any advisers that the project would be delivered, Mr Trump said, “Absolutely not—we never even discussed that.

“All we talked about was Scotland—and what he wants is good for Scotland.

“Maybe he won’t want this project. It’s possible, although it would be hard to believe when 93% of the local community voted for it in the local paper.

“It’s inconceivable—but it’s possible that Alex Salmond won’t want the project.”

At committee yesterday MSPs continued to question Mr Salmond about a phone call made by Mr Salmond to the government’s chief planner Jim Mackinnon in the presence of Mr Trump’s representative George Sorial.

“I called Jim Mackinnon at the end of the meeting,” said Mr Salmond.

“I asked him what I had asked him a few days previously, if it was permissible for him or someone from his department to meet the Trump organisation.

“He said it was, as long as what was being discussed was not the merits of the case but procedures and timescales.

“On that basis I handed the phone to George Sorial who then requested and arranged the meeting.”

Lib Dem MSP Robert Brown pressed the point saying, “A major organisation with a battery of lawyers and consultants are capable of setting up a meeting with the chief planner, who they’ve met on many occasions, themselves.

“The telephone calls to the chief planner expressly or impliedly carried a very clear message that Scotland’s chief honcho—yourself—wanted action.

“This was action that an ordinary backbencher would not be able to get.”

But Mr Salmond rejected this and pointed out that Labour’s Helen Eadie was meeting Mr MacKinnon today in her constituency over a development at Rosyth.

“I was acting as the constituency MSP. I was acting in a way that I had confirmed that I was able to and could do.”

In his interview with the BBC, Mr Trump said there had been nothing untoward in two of his representatives being in the office of the chief planner when the application was called in.

“If political leaders think that what a small group of people did by voting eight-seven against the project was wrong, and when you see the wrath, the absolute fury, of the public against those people, and the political leaders call in the application, I think those political leaders do a great service to the country.”